The 2012-13 platform season in the Greater Boston area turned out to be a great year of expansion. The area used to have just 1 teaching paddle pro and now there are 6 which has greatly increased the amount of play in the area. The men’s Greater Boston Platform Tennis League has formed a Board, capably led by Amin Khadduri from Brae Burn Country Club, added a new club to the A league and had the first official C league this past season. A website was added in this past season for teams to report their official match scores and help with the ranking of teams. Several clubs in the local area have added platform courts and one club was grateful to the APTA to receive a grant to be able to refurbish their courts. The Boston Open held in January and hosted by National Champion Johan DuRandt was the 2nd highest ranking tournament in the country this past season just behind the Nationals.

The 26th winner of the Burke Cup, the A league champion, was The Country Club from Brookline, MA (pictured above) as they barely got by Concord Country Club in the final match. TCC had an undefeated regular season record. The B league champion was Cape Ann Platform Tennis and the C league champion in their inaugural season was Weston. The GBPTL Board will meet soon after the season to review their progress and certainly plan more enhancements for next season. Garrett Gates from Gilfoy Platform Club has already made arrangements to have summer play in the Boston area complete with a website to schedule and rank matches. Is it possible that a Nationals tournament may someday be played in the Boston area? Stay tuned.

GREATER BOSTON PLATFORM TENNIS LEAGUE SET TO EXPAND AS SEASON 35 COMES TO A CLOSE

The Greater Boston Platform Tennis League completed its 35th season dating back to 1978 as the A & B league finals were played on a cool evening, March 5, 2012. The A league championships-The Burke Cup-went to Gilfoy Platform Tennis Club defeating The Country Club of Brookline, MA in a tight fought battle 5-2. The A league has become so deep and strong that even Weston Country Club boasting a lineup including past National Champions Johan DuRant and Leo Power (45 National Champion) could not overcome a deep Gilfoy Platform Tennis Club team in the semi-final round. The B league final was won by The Country Club over Gilfoy Platform Tennis Club depriving Gilfoy of bragging rights in both leagues. This past season saw the birth of the first ever C league in the GBPTL.

More importantly the GBPTL is poised for expansion. Interest in Paddle in the greater Boston area has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 2 years under the enthusiasm of Region II APTA director, Rob Coster. Almost all of the 300 participants in the GBPTL joined the APTA during the 2011-2 season if they were not already members. The APTA generously granted money to a group of players at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA to refurbish their courts to encourage play. At least 8 platform tennis factions in the area have put in or are installing paddle courts. “Paddle is booming in our area” says Twig Burke, former longtime commissioner of the GBPTL. “We started in 1978 with 5 clubs and have twice expanded the league to its present state of 12 clubs and 29 teams. People are learning what a great sport platform is and they want to play competitively in our league. Change isn’t easy but we are working hard to grow based on the demand.”

Very soon a GBPTL Board will be put in place to help drive the expansion and oversee the league. Amin Khadoury of Brae Burn Country Club who has been working hard on the expansion project says “the time is right to bring greater structure to the league to expand and ensure long term stability. Scheduling and travel distances are an issue in our area but the demand is so strong to join the GBPTL that we are going to make it happen”. In May, the APTA will hold its annual meeting at Weston Golf Club in Weston, MA. The GBPTL is hoping to install its first Hall of Fame at that meeting.

A League 2010-2011

THE LEAGUE
The A League consists of twelve Clubs split into two divisions:

THE SCHEDULE
All Clubs will commence regular season play on Monday, October 25 and will play 16 weeks of regular season every Monday night (no matches 12/27 and 2/21). Each Club will play the other Clubs within its division twice (home and away) and will play each Club in the other division once (half the matches home, half away).

THE PLAYOFFS
At the completion of the regular season, the top eight Clubs overall will advance to the playoffs which will progress as follows:
a) the quarterfinals will be played on Monday, February 28. The #8 team will play the #1 team, #2 team play the #7 team, etc.
b) the semifinals will be played on Monday, March 7. The Club (regardless of division) with the most points generated during the regular season will be seeded first and the other three clubs seeded accordingly. The fourth seed will play at the first seed and the third seed will play at the second seed.
c) the finals will be played on Monday, March 14 at the Club with the highest seed.

The bottom four teams shall complete in the Toilet Bowl playoffs with the #9 team hosting the #12 team, the #10 team hosting the #11 and so on.

PLEASE NOTE that Clubs must field seven (7) teams for the playoffs. Also, playoff sites are subject to change because we have to interact with the B League.

MATCH FORMATS
During the regular season, each Club is expected to field six (6) teams. If a Club cannot field six teams, it must notify the Captain of the opposing club no later than 12:00pm on the day of the match in which case the team that cannot field 6 teams will forfeit those individual matches.

At Clubs with 3 courts, teams #1,3,5 will play at 6 p.m., and teams #2,4,6 will play at 7 p.m unless otherwise agreed upon by both captains. At Clubs with 2 courts the captains shall confer to decide times of play. A team that is not ready to play within 20 minutes of the scheduled start time is subject to default. Please use reason (e.g. traffic, weather, etc). Matches are best two of three sets with a 13 point tie-breaker at 6-all (first team to seven points, must win by two points).

HOME CLUB RESPONSIBILITIES
The responsibilities of the home Clubs are:a) at least 4 sleeves of Viking balls on hand (don’t skimp)
b) provide liquid refreshments (beer, regular/diet soft drinks)
c) provide food
d) report results of the match to the Commissioner’s office the next morning

WEATHER
Opposing captains should agree by 3 p.m. on the day of the match if the weather is too severe to play. This should only happen (as Twig Burke would say) in extremely horrendous and dangerous conditions. Cancelled matches due to weather shall be made up on a mutually agreeable date during the season and at the sole discretion of the commissioner.

LEAGUE ELIGIBILITY

Each club shall decide its eligibility of players whether they need to be members of that club or not however it is highly recommended that the majority of players be actual members of the club. Please remember that the B league maintains strict guidelines on how many times a B team member may play for the A league so you will have to fight that out with your respective B team captain. “Stacking” of teams to gain a match advantage is strictly forbidden and violates the overall ethics of the league. Please always respect the APTA’s foot fault ruling. As competitive as we all are (me included) we must all remember that this league is designed to be a fun Monday night.